


Grow as We Go

by NobleFir



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Related, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Past Shadam - Freeform, Weddings, not exactly canon compliant?, past allurance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-03-06 14:58:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18853396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NobleFir/pseuds/NobleFir
Summary: It's been a decade since the end of the war with Zarkon. Every paladin has gone off to do their own thing. Lance is on his family farm when he's picked up for their annual anniversary lunch by no other than Keith Kogane. While confused at first why it isn't Shiro picking him up as per usual, an exciting announcement brings it all to light. Shiro and Curtis are finally getting married! Lance is ecstatic for the couple, but he's faced with an unexpected problem- with the wedding date so soon, and no home on earth, where is Keith going to stay until the big day?Why, on the big McClain family farm it seems!





	1. Breathe It In

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic I've ever posted on AO3! And also my first shot at a Klance fic. So far I only have this one chapter done, but I hope to find the words for the other chapters soon! Please don't feel shy about commenting, I love having feedback on my work ( even negative feedback!)
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading!

The smell of juniberries was stronger today than usual.  
In the spring, an overwhelming aroma on the farm meant they were in full bloom and ready for harvesting, to be sold in flower shops, and food markets.  
In the summer, Lance knew it meant that the anniversary was coming.  
He didn’t need the flowers to tell him, the date was practically burned into his mind. Aside from the memorial day for the war, she had gotten another day for herself, a universal holiday to honor her sacrifice. Lance couldn’t forget it if he wanted to. And sometimes, he really wanted to.  
On those days, the scent of the Altean flowers assaulted his senses, leaving him curled up in the fields, only wishing to decompose. Perhaps his lonely corpse could help the beautiful petals bloom brighter. Those days were the bad days. They’d been more common in the early years after the war. They hadn’t gone away quite yet, but he was getting better.  
Good days were more like, okay days. The smell was more pleasant and nostalgic. He’d watch the newly planted sprouts flutter in the wind, and look forward to the next spring when they’d be bursting with purples, pinks, and blues.  
He was sitting on a bay of hale beside Kaltenecker, who had surprisingly exceeded her life expectancy, and was still showing no signs of going away any time soon. Trying to busy himself, or at least trying to look busy, he braided a few long strands of grass together.  
Someone should be here soon, to pick him up. Just like every year. Usually, it was Shiro, who had the free time. Shiro had lost someone in the war as well. Of course, losing Allura also added to that grief, but he never treated Lance’s pain as any less than his. He’d visited Lance most out of any of the retired paladins. They would talk often, sometimes about Adam and Allura, sometimes about Pidge, or Hunk, or Keith. Sometimes about themselves. And sometimes, they didn’t really talk much at all. Lance might cry into Shiro’s shoulder instead, or Shiro would bury his head in his hands as Lance rubbed his back in comfort.  
Lance had grown happily familiar with the sight of a Garrison ship landing across the way, Shiro’s snow white hair bright as he walked down the driveway, waving with his robotic arm.  
He didn’t look up from his braiding, even as the wind blew his hair off his forehead. Kaltenecker groaned low, and he patted her side.  
“ Hey, Lance.”  
The voice that reached him was… like an old memory. It  
an old memory. Where he saw Shiro a few times a month, visited Hunk about once every other month, and video chatted with Pidge whenever she felt like dialing his number, it had been… well, a year since he’d heard Keith speak. His voice sounded the same as ever, it hadn’t changed. But it was like blowing dust off an old picture.  
“ Keith.”  
“ Are you ready to go?”  
“ I was born ready.” He scoffed, laying the braid beside him.  
“ Uh huh, sure.”  
“ Shut your quiznack.” Lance said with a smile, and looked up.  
It was absolutely blinding, the sight before him. Mostly because he was staring in the direction of the bright summer sun. A Keith shaped shadow stretched across the dirt path, leading up to the real Keith.  
Just like his voice, his face hadn’t changed much since they’d last seen each other. His hair was a bit longer, tied into a low ponytail, and, ugh, he was  
again. Stupid half-Galra genes. He was smiling. Standing at full height, Lance had to look up to meet his eyes.  
“ Come on, we don’t wanna be the last ones here.”  
“ With your piloting?” Lance laughed. “ That’s not possible.”  
He blew Kaltenecker a kiss before climbing into the ship Keith had flown in from the Garrison.  
The scent of juniberries was locked out as the doors shut.  
\----------  
Lance took a deep breath as Allura’s memorial statue came into view. Ten years later, she was the same. She was just as the day she was revealed to the public eye. While the rest of the paladins aged and changed, Allura remained set in stone. Left behind. Lance wasn’t sure he would ever get over the fact that she couldn’t grow up with them.  
Keith took a hand off the controls to give his shoulder a squeeze.  
“ She’d be proud of you.” He said quietly.  
That was all Lance wanted. For Allura to be proud of him. How he had been working so hard to help keep her memory and her message alive. From presentations at local schools, to speeches in town squares, to refusing the offer to return to being a Garrison pilot, choosing a quiet life as a part of the Altean culture. Lance had  
to do it all. He had been more than happy to. Allura was a hero. He could never do enough to let people know how much she loved her cause. And how much he loved her.  
“ Thanks, man.”  
Pidge and Hunk hadn’t arrived yet. Shiro and Coran were setting the table, chatting with each other as Keith and Lance hopped out of the Garrison ship.  
“ Do you need any help?” He asked the pair, scratching the back of his head. He didn’t want to just stand around.  
“ No, I think we’ve done all we can for now.” Shiro stretched his arms.  
“ It looks amazing.”  
“ Thank you, Keith.”  
Shiro pulled him into a hug, scrubbing his scalp, and then did the same for Lance. He was warm, and Lance let out a happy sigh. No one gave hugs like Shiro. He would squeeze you with those big arms, and hold you against his big chest. Like a solid teddy bear. These hugs had gotten Lance through some tough times.  
After being released, he turned his attention to the memorial statue. Allura stood tall and proud, eyes set forward, determined, focused on her goal. Lance laid a hand on her foot. She continued to look ahead. He closed his eyes, breathing out slowly.  
On his next breath, his nostrils filled with the smell of juniberries. Coran must have placed some in a vase upon the table. They had a sweet aroma, Lance had learned. Sometimes sickeningly so, like the taste of frosting on your 10th spoonful. The flowers here must have been freshly picked, yet they were already beginning to rot away. He fought the urge to cover his nose.  
“ How have things been on the farm, Lance?” Coran strolled up beside him. “ I apologize for not visiting as often as I should be.”  
“ No need, I understand you have your own duties.” He felt a tired smile stretch across his lips. “ This year's harvest was the most plentiful yet.”  
“ And you did manage to set a few bundles aside for dear old Coran, didn’t you?”  
“ Of course, I’d never forget.”  
The Altean laughed loud and slapped a hand on his shoulder.  
“ You’re doing great work! Allura would be proud of you.”  
“ Thanks.” He absentmindedly scratched at the mark on his right cheek. “ That’s all I could hope for.”  
Coran gave him that big, goofy grin and set a bright blue juniberry upon the base of the statue.  
Hunk touched down a few minutes later, bringing with him a full meal and dessert. He got a bit upon seeing the other 3 paladins, crushing Lance and Keith in a bear hug.  
“ It’s good to see you too, big guy.” Keith said while hugging him back. Lance wondered briefly if Keith hugged like Shiro, gentle and firm, or like Hunk, suffocating yet comforting. Most likely, he had his own mysterious way. Lance wouldn’t know. He usually went for handshakes, pats on the hand or the back, occasional fist bumps, and maybe a one-armed side hug in rare special moments. Of course, he only wondered this. Pidge landed as Hunk let them go. Lance leaned against a tall tree, recovering from having his lungs lovingly crushed.  
“ I dig the new haircut.” He coughed, shooting a finger gun her way. “ You look like your mom.”  
“ I’ll take that as a compliment.” She snorted and made her way to Hunk for a fistbump.  
“ Team Punk reunited!” They cheered, and Lance rolled his eyes with amusement.

With all the paladins present, they moved to sit at the table. They took turns catching up the group on what they’d been getting up to since they last met. Hunk had been opening new restaurants across a few galaxies and was planning a nice vacation with Shay for this summer. Pidge was nearly complete in developing an implant to help humans breathe in normally non-breathable environments without a helmet. Keith had been doing normal Blade missions, bringing medicine and supplies to far away planets, and helping to disestablish any other Zarkon-like governments that would pop up.  
Lance had just about finished boasting about the bountiful harvest this season when Shiro cleared his throat.  
“ It fills me with pride to hear about your achievements, Paladins.” He started, looking around at all of them. “ Your efforts to make this universe safe, and to improve the lives of so many others, are paying off. You are all accomplishing great things. I never expected anything less than absolute greatness from any of you.”  
Lance poked at the leftovers of the foreign alien dish on his plate. What was so amazing about farming flowers? Compared to traveling the galaxy, taking down evil aliens, and creating cool science stuff, the farm seemed like such a small thing to be doing.  
“ It feels strange, watching you all grow from bickering students at the Garrison to defenders of the universe. How you’re all doing greater than I could have ever hoped to.” He chuckled. “ By the time you reach my age, well I can’t even imagine where you’ll be.”  
He raised his glass.  
“ Allura would be so proud of all of you. The days when she would push you to train together, while you all complained and groaned,” They all smiled fondly at the memories. “ Those are behind you now. We are all a team. And we always will be. No matter what.”  
The rest of the paladins raised their drinks.  
“ To the team.” Hunk chimed.  
“ To Voltron.” Pidge knocked their cups together.  
“ To all of us.” Keith offered.  
“ To Allura.” Lance gently tapped his glass.  
“ To friends and family, here and gone.”  
They all took a drink. Things were peacefully quiet for a few moments after.  
“ We’re a family,” Shiro stated. “ You are all the family I have left.”  
Hunk patted his shoulder with a watery smile, and Keith nodded knowingly. Coran looked up to Allura’s frozen face.  
“ So,” Shiro continued. “ as my family, I would like to invite all of you to something very important and special to me.”  
“ Of course!” Pidge laughed.  
“ Go ahead.” Lance urged.  
Shiro looked around at all of them and raised his glass to his lips with a smile.  
“ My wedding.”  
He took a long drink.


	2. Whole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gangs back together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found out that the italicized font will not show up? So... I'll work on fixing that.

In the 5 minutes that followed Shiro’s announcement, chaos had ensued. 

Hunk, crying very loudly with joy, had gotten up to pull their leader into a hug, knocking Pidge’s chair over in the process. In an attempt to keep herself from falling, she had grabbed onto the table cloth. Pulling the table cloth had resulted in Keith’s glass of water tipping over, and spilling directly into his lap. Which, of course, made Lance laugh because ‘ Keith peed his pants!’ Keith, however, didn’t find it quite so funny and proceeded to grab a pitcher of lemonade to pour over Lance’s head. 

And so they were currently in the middle of a harsh shoving match, while Pidge lay on the ground, her chair on top of her, and Hunk compressed Shiro’s spine. Sipping his nunvil, Coran witnessed their rapid descent into madness. 

“ My eyes sting Keith! Is that what you wanted? To blind me?!” 

“ At least you don’t have wet pants! I should have poured it on your-”

“ Can someone help me up, please?”

“ I can’t believe it’s finally happening! You took like, forever Shiro. I mean Shay and I got married so long ago-”

“ Oh yeah? Well- I’ll stick you in a-”

“ What are you talking about?!”

“ Hello? Anyone?”

“ Please tell me I’m going to be the one catering, Shiro, I will not be able to live with myself if you chose anyone else-”

“ P-paladins-” Shiro choked out. “ Paladins!”

A high whistle cut through the air like a sword. Lance paused, one hand smushed against Keith’s face, the other trying to pry gloved fingers from his hair. All 4 paladins and Shiro looked to the orange haired Altean, who wore a firm, yet amused expression. 

“ To think the harmonious paladins of Voltron would allow themselves to be defeated by such a thing as a human courting ritual.” He chuckled. 

“ Uh… it was Keith’s fault.”

“ No it was not-”

“ Stop!” Shiro ordered, still trapped in Hunk’s python embrace. The yellow paladin quickly let him down. 

“ Sorry…” He laughed awkwardly, and moved to help Pidge to her feet.

“ It’s fine,” Shiro smiled. That smile turned into a tired line as he cast his eyes upon Keith and Lance, still frozen in their hand-to-hand combat. “ How do you two get so out of control at any given opportunity?”

“ H-he laughed at me!

“ That’s not an excuse to pour lemonade on me, you jerk-”

“ It’s what you deserved.”

“ How dare you-”

“ Shut Up!” Pidge snapped, slamming her hands on the table. The two huffed, and turned away from each other as they crossed their arms in a mirrored fashion.

Shiro closed his eyes, and squeezed his temple. 

“ I have no idea how I expected that to go, but there was something in me that was really hoping it would not be how you guys usually handle surprises.”

The paladins all exchanged identical grimaces of shame. 

“ Uh… congrats, Shiro…”

“ Yeah, congrats… dude…” Lance forced himself to ignore the stickiness of lemonade creeping down his neck. 

“ This is a very big step in a relationship. I’m happy you and Curtis feel ready to take it.” Keith praised as he pressed a handful of napkins into his lap. “ And I’m honored that you wanted to tell us all before anyone else.”

“ Thank you,” Shiro sighed, and sat back down. “ I’ve forgotten how excitable you all are… and how exhausting your enthusiasm can be.” He ran a hand through his pale hair. “ But… I’ll admit, I really missed this energy.”

“ I missed it too. All of this, being a team.” Hunk beamed. “ Like, sure we don’t physically have Voltron anymore but… Voltron is like in us, you know? And when we’re all together it feels like we’re… all connected like that again.”

After a quiet moment, Lance felt something push against his hand. He looked to see Keith passing him some napkins under the table, eyes staring ahead at Shiro. He took them, and when his eyes flicked over to him briefly, gave a small smile of thanks. Keith definitely wasn’t the ill-tempered hot head from when they had first formed Voltron. At least, it wasn’t 100% of his personality now. Lance crumpled up the napkins and did his best to mop up the lemonade from his hair and neck. 

“ Yeah yeah, ok I love you all too,” Pidge interrupted. “ Shiro, do you have the date planned already? So we can fit it into our schedules?” 

Hunk and Keith grunted in agreement. Of course, they all worked across the galaxy. Lance actually did travel bi-annually off planet to visit New Daiibazal, on Allura Day and Paladins Day. He usually gave some speeches, shook plenty of hands, and spent time with whatever other paladins they had managed to get to come. It was never all 5 of them. Usually, Shiro, Lance, and Hunk were the most available. Outside of those days, Lance didn’t leave earth much anymore. His schedule was pretty flexible too. He wasn’t sure if he felt lucky or left out.

“ Well, I was really set on a spring wedding, I mean, come on who wouldn’t want to get married among a garden of freshly bloomed flowers?”

“ People with seasonal allergies.” Hunk snorted. 

“ Exactly, which Curtis unfortunately has, and as much as I love him, I would prefer to not have him stuffed up while we read our vows. And Curtis always said he wanted a fall wedding, but that’s when the school year starts, and obviously having a wedding then would not be ideal because we’re teachers now... “

Lance had forgotten about that. The Garrison had all but begged Shiro to become the new flight instructor, and Curtis had taken over Adam Wadekar’s old class. Lance thought that teaching suited Shiro, he had taught the paladins pretty well after all. 

“ So we’re going to compromise our dreams and shoot for summer. And I think that puts the wedding around… late August?” 

Hunk, sipping on his lemonade, choked, spitting it out as Pidge gaped. 

“ Wh- Shiro! That’s only two months from now!”

“ You couldn’t have told us a little sooner?!”

“ No, actually, I couldn’t have!” Shiro said defensively and pointed his human finger right at Keith. “ Especially since Mr. Marmora decides to only visit earth one week out of the year!”

“ Hey!”

“ Electronic invitations exist, Mr. Old Fashioned!”

“ I wanted it to be special! Besides, we’ve already got everything planned and prepared already. Except for catering,” He stops Hunk before he can get any words in. “ Which, yes, we will be glad for you to take care of if you so please.”

“ I literally want that more than anything.”

“ I assumed that was the case. And, we aren’t even inviting that many people. It’s going to be small, and private.”

“ You really think the wedding of the famous ex-Black paladin, and current ATLAS captain, is not going to be of interest to the public?”

“ It better not be of interest to the public because we are not saying a word about it to anyone outside of a very small circle. I really don’t need news cameras and paparazzi at my wedding, let alone the dangers that could come with it being public knowledge.” Shiro gave them all ( particularly Hunk) a very stern look. “ Please, do not tell anyone else about the wedding unless you know that they are also invited. I’m planning on inviting the rest of your family, Pidge, and your mom and Kolivan, if they have the time.”

“ Dad and Mom will be over the moon.” Pidge chuckled. 

“ I’m sure Krolia would want to attend. I’ll talk to her ASAP.” 

‘’ I also want to extend an invitation to Veronica, Lance. As well as Romelle and Shay.” 

“ I’ll gossip about it with her once she gets the news.” Lance laughed. At least now he had a reason to blow up her phone. 

They talked for a while more about preparations. Buying suits would be the most urgent thing. Shiro had, to Keith’s shock, asked a certain Lance McClain to be his best man. 

“ What?! Shiro- I’m your brother! I-I saved your life! Multiple times!”

“ Well, I see Lance more often now than I see you. We’ve gotten to know each other pretty well, haven’t we, Lance.”

“ Yes, we have, Shiro.” Lance puffed out his chest, shirt still damp from having lemonade poured on it. “ And I would be honored to be your best man.” 

“ I cannot believe-”

“ Well… I always could have… 2 best men…” Shiro hummed, a smirk creeping onto his face.

“ Hey-Woah Woah Woah!” Lance jumped up. “ It’s not Best Man if there is more than one!”

“ Men of honor, then.”

“ That isn’t fair-”

“ I gladly accept your offer, Shiro.” 

Ok, maybe Keith was still the stupid ill-tempered, hot-headed emo boy he’d been a decade and a half ago. Not that Lance thought only he should be able to be a best man, it was Shiro’s wedding, and he didn’t want to be one of those people. But… come on, Keith? 

Begrudgingly, he had to admit Shiro and Keith had a deeper bond than Lance could ever even hope to have with either of them. Was he jealous? 

...Yes… Just a little bit. Who could blame him? Who didn’t want to be best friends in the whole wide universe with Takashi Shirogane? Crazy people, that’s who. 

Even so, Lance put on a show of huffing and puffing at Keith. He didn’t know what really compelled him, but it felt natural. The man rolled his eyes, but gave a bit of a smile to show he didn’t take his jabs too harshly. Good. 

After they sorted the wedding stuff out, the rest of the evening was just chatter. Lance had hung on Hunk as he talked to Shiro about catering, then had switched to talking with Pidge about the newest videogames coming out. At some point, he’d challenged Keith to an arm wrestling match, in which he won, and then lost against Coran, so he didn’t know how to feel about that ordeal. It felt like too short of a day when the sun had started it’s slow fall from the sky. 

“ It’s getting late.” Shiro remarked as the paladins all held a push-up contest, where Pidge and Hunk had already dropped out. 

“ Aw, I don’t want it to be getting late.” Hunk frowned. “ Let’s just extend this reunion for like.. A few more days.” 

“ As much as I’d love to, I’m sure you all have important places to get back to.”

“ Not really.” Lance shrugged. Pidge hummed in agreement, even though it seemed her work was most important of all. 

“ Romelle and Shay can handle things for a little longer…” 

“ Yeah I don’t have anywhere to get back to either.” Keith chimed in as he continued doing pushups. 

“ Dude, you’re literally part of the galaxy wide version of Humanitarian Aid.” Hunk scoffed.

“ Well obviously I can’t go back now.”

“ What?!”

Keith looked at them all like they were idiots, which Lance did not appreciate. Then he sighed and stopped his pushups, sitting down with his legs crossed. 

“ When we go on missions, there is never a guarantee for time. I can be gone on a mission for what feels like a day but is actually a few months, or one that feels like 2 years and is actually only about a quarter of a year. I’m not going to risk missing the wedding. So I’m staying on earth until then, I guess.”

It was hard to tell sometimes when Keith is or isn’t joking, but this time, Lance was 100% sure he was serious. Was he really going to stay put for the next 2 months? 

“ And just where are you going to stay, Keith?” Shiro asked.

“ Uh, with you, obviously.” 

Shiro let out a groan, as Pidge laughed loudly. 

“ Keith, you can’t stay with Curtis and I.” 

 

“ What? Why?!”

“ Maybe because you’re not 12 years old anymore!” Pidge hollered, and Hunk snickered as he braided some dandelions into a crown. Keith scowled at them, and looked at Shiro with eyes ablaze. 

“ My dad’s old place got demolished in the Galran attack on earth like, a decade ago. I don’t really have any other options.”

Demolished? Yikes. And he hadn’t told any of them? For 10 years? 

“ Sure you do, Keith!” Coran beams. “ I’m sure your other paladins wouldn’t mind giving you a place to stay!”

“ Nope.” Pidge shuts him down.

“ I don’t have the space.” 

“ Your earth house literally has guest rooms.” 

“ Uh my earth house is also a homeless center and a soup kitchen, Ms. I live in a big mansion with my super rich family.” 

“ Can’t stay with me either.” Lance remarks. Keith, stay at his farm? The idea is laughable, but also gets on his nerves. Having Mr Hot Topic in his general area, at all times, for 2 months?

...No way. 

“ Lance you have the most space out of us all.” 

“ And like, all you do is farm stuff.” 

“ Farming is hard work!” Lance snaps. “ Early mornings, late nights, it’s back-breaking and it’s definitely more physically straining than what either of you two do!”

“ I agree with Lance.” Shiro pipes up. Thank the stars, someone on his side. Lance knew he could count on Shiro. 

“ However… Lance does live all by himself… in a pretty big house.” 

Lance’s jaw dropped. How…. how dare Shiro turn around and stab in the back like that? The man looks at him, gives a small shrug, and a somehow unapologetic grin. Awful. He sighs, and scoffs, kicking the dirt under his feet. 

“ Well, it’s no up to any of us!” He tells them. “ It’s up to Keith. Right, Keith? And you don’t want to stay with me?”

The galran seems surprisingly uninterested for a conversation about where he will be for the next 2 months. He looks at them, glaring at Shiro, which Lance also wanted to do at the moment. Then he lets out an angry groan. 

Well, Keith can just stay in Garrison quarters, can’t he? They must have a spare room! Sure Keith has some bad memories there, but, that’s in the past right? He’ll be fine. Lance is.. Sure he’ll be fine.

“ I’ll stay with Lance.” 

Nevermind, Lance thinks. Because he’s going to kill Keith himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Feel free to leave criticisms, compliments, and just anything you want to say in the comments!


End file.
